Camping on an Island

LovingNature · 08-01-2011, 10:29 AM

Not sure if a lot of you have this opportunity but we live not to far from the Gulf and where we like to fish has lots of Islands, some or good enough to camp on. Have any of you ever tried this? It can be a bit of trouble sometimes as you need to pack everything up in your boat, but if you have a few others going, you can kind of divide things up. It is fun once you have things all set up.

**CozInCowtown** · 08-01-2011, 10:51 AM

Yes, lotsa fun.
We had a Blackwatch sailboat years ago and it was a great day sailer.
DC

Judy Ann · 08-01-2011, 11:37 AM

The Atlantic has many great spots too. I love barrier islands for many reasons. Many record breaking fish have been caught off the islands!!!

charley · 08-01-2011, 03:54 PM

On a smaller scale, I have camped on small islands in the Allegeheny river in nw Pa. Load the canoe and float fish to the island. Nice way to spend the weekend.

oldmangunner · 08-01-2011, 07:09 PM

When I was younger my friends and I took a canoe out to one of those islands. In retrospect that was probably a bad idea. Now that I am older I would not go out in those waters in a canoe.

JimBob · 08-01-2011, 08:55 PM

I live on the east coast of Florida, but have been to the Gulf many times. My favorite spot is a place called Marco Island. They have white sandy beaches there, much better than on my side. The sunset is incredible on that side because it faces west. I never miss a chance to drive out there.

Judy Ann · 08-01-2011, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charley

On a smaller scale, I have camped on small islands in the Allegeheny river in nw Pa. Load the canoe and float fish to the island. Nice way to spend the weekend.

Sounds like fun! My poor dog learned to swim in the river in your neck of the woods this spring just so we could take a canoe out for a day. There is something just plain wrong with what my poor dog goes through on an average outing. I treat her like a lab, but in reality she is a pretty little Bichon Frise. Her groomer does a great job keeping her coat ready for all our expeditions, and for a nonsporting dog she's fun on the trails and around camp. I cannot begin to imagine what she would do with a fish flopping around the bottom of a canoe. Somehow I would imagine that everything would end up overboard...her, me and the fish!!!!

Newanderthal · 08-02-2011, 10:12 AM

I love island camping from the canoe. Not in the gulf, but on lakes and rivers. Buy some dry bags and shove everything in them, then add some air before sealing them. This will keep them buoyant if the boat capsizes.

briansnat · 08-05-2011, 10:59 AM

Lake George in NY has a state campground spread around dozens of islands. Some islands have 20 or more campsites and some only have one or two. It depends on the size of the island.

Last weekend I went with a group and we paddled canoes and kayaks 7 miles to reach our island campsite. It seems though that most people use motorboats and cabin cruisers to reach the islands.

The people who use the big boats to get out there have pretty elaborate setups including showers, screen houses, huge tents and even showers and their own "outhouses" (chemical toilets with a curtain around it and even a half moon design on the curtain). I guess the existing outhouses are not their cup of tea.

I've also camped on islands in the Adirondack wilderness. A few of the lakes in the wilderness areas have campsites on islands. The nicer ones are hard to get though. People scoop those up first. There are no reservations, first come, first serve. I like these places because there are no motorboats allowed. Even the park rangers patrol in kayaks and some of these lakes are 5-6 miles long.

I love camping on islands. My only concern is thunderstorms. Some of these islands are pretty small and I don't like the idea of being the highest thing for several hundred yards.